After the Covid pandemic, I started to join my dad’s weekend group for 100KM to 160KM ride. Their AVS is 35KM/H which is very fast for me. In order to stay in the group, I started to make aerodynamic improvement on my bike. I first tried F1-style blades, but dad told me bikes are too slow for that. He showed me kammtail designs (reducing wake turbulence), so I shifted to fairings for the valve stem. I wanted this to ease riders’ wind-facing rides. Obsessed with aerodynamics lately, I sketched countless 3D models. After three versions (too big, unremovable, then a side screw hole fixed it), the fairings worked.
Dad praised it after ride and gave me some tips. In Version 4, I used harder material, soft screws, and could install&uninstall in 10s. More and more riding friends tested it with a conclusion that 2-5W could be saved and it has a cool look for TT/triathlon. Dad said, “Atom, you could start to sell it on the market!” I’m already planning Version 5 to help more cyclists with different type of wheels (such as ZIPP 858 NSW, etc.)
For next versions, I am thinking of adding blue tooth, battery and pressure measuring module in the valve so that it could connect to iphone and garmin computer to read the real time tire pressure.
